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Microsoft: ‘Even with Activision Blizzard, we’ll be number three’ - The Activision deal will help it ‘build the next internet’

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

Speaking to the Financial Times, Microsoft’s Nadella was asked if Microsoft now has to convince regulators that it isn’t a tech platform to be wary of.

The exec argued that the games industry is highly fragmented, and claimed that even after its Activision Blizzard deal goes through, it would be the third-largest company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.

“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about,” Nadella answered.

“And what about the market structure? Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with sort of low teens [market] share, where even the highest player is also [in the] teens [for market] share.

“It shows how fragmented content creation platforms are. And so, that’s the fundamental category. Yes, we will be a big player in what is a highly fragmented place.

“Also, the analysis will have to extend to say ‘why are these content companies trying to become bigger?’ It’s because the place where the constraints really are is distribution.

“The only open distribution platform for any gaming content – guess what? – is Windows. The biggest store on Windows is Steam. It’s not ours. People can do any payment instrument, whereas all the other gaming distribution platforms are closed.

“To some degree, that’s why we are very hopeful that, by becoming stronger, even with low share, we can create more distribution for many small players, using things like xCloud.”

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In his first interview since the Activision deal was announced, Nadella discussed Microsoft’s vision for the metaverse.

“Metaverse is essentially about creating games,” he told the Financial Times. “It is about being able to put people, places, things [in] a physics engine and then having all the people, places, things in the physics engine relate to each other.

“You and I will be sitting on a conference room table soon with either our avatars or our holograms or even 2D surfaces with surround audio. Guess what? The place where we have been doing that forever . . . is gaming.

“And so, the way we will even approach the system side of what we’re going to build for the metaverse is, essentially, democratise the game building . . . and bring it to anybody who wants to build any space and have essentially, people, places, [and] things digitised and relating to each other with their body presence.”

He told the FT: “To me, just being great at game building gives us the permission to build this next platform, which is essentially the next internet: the embodied presence. Today, I play a game, but I’m not in the game.

“Now, we can start dreaming [that] through these metaverses: I can literally be in the game, just like I can be in a conference room with you in a meeting. That metaphor and the technology . . . will manifest itself in different contexts.

“Another one would be in the context of a very different business process. If you look at retail or construction, that’s also like when you create a digital twin: you have a factory and you are trying to visualise how to simulate its operation. That’s also a game-playing exercise, except you’re not game playing. You’re trying to simulate how a factory functions.”
 

Damigos

Member
To The Internet GIF
 

ethomaz

Banned
So he wants to revive their own store against Steam again. 30% revenue from online stores is a really big deal.

While it is a bold strategy it is really what they need to do in long term… they have the OS so why they don’t have the Store? For the type of business they wanted being the dominant Store front is essential.

Now the metaphor said in the second part let me out of context :D
 
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kingfey

Banned
So he wants to revive their own store against Steam again. 30% revenue from online stores is a really big deal.

While it is a bold strategy it is really what they need to do in long term… they have the OS so why they don’t have the Store? For the type of business they wanted being the dominant Store front is essential.

Now the metaphor said in the second part let me out of context :D
Its the new future for that mode. The metaverse, which will rid off normal school/college equipment, if done right.

Here is their mixed reality


That is the new technology, which metaverse is part of. It comes in different type of shape. VR like quest 2, psvr2, htc vive, ms AR systems.

Like player one, sword art online.
 

ZehDon

Member
Personal anecdote: Microsoft's initial metaverse steps, due out later this year, are something my company is really looking in to. Integrating VR into Microsoft Teams is exciting, because thanks to COVID, we're basically decentralised now. Being able to be in the same room, with virtual white boards, diagrams, and the ability to move around, is a game changer for our teams.

More on topic, there's a reason Carmack left id Software and moved over to Facebook to work on VR. The metaverse future is coming, and gaming is the gateway drug that gets us there. Microsoft understand that, and so does Facebook. Now, is that a good future? We'll find out, I guess.
 
Its the new future for that mode. The metaverse, which will rid off normal school/college equipment, if done right.

Here is their mixed reality


That is the new technology, which metaverse is part of. It comes in different type of shape. VR like quest 2, psvr2, htc vive, ms AR systems.

Like player one, sword art online.

Introducing Microsoft WTF!!
 

AmuroChan

Member
Then he shouldn't talk about it. I try not to talk about things I don't know about. I just say "heck if I know."

It's unavoidable. He's the CEO of the company. He's going to have to answer questions no matter what. If anything, he needs to ask his PR team to prepare better answers for him.
 

kingfey

Banned
I agree. This last few weeks has been stupid around here, and people getting excited and cheering on this arms race don't fully understand they are going to lose more than they gain.
We wanted competition between Xbox and playstation, not a knife fight vs nuke fight.

At this point, the arrogant MS might come out of hibernation if this shit keeps going on for a while.
 
Personal anecdote: Microsoft's initial metaverse steps, due out later this year, are something my company is really looking in to. Integrating VR into Microsoft Teams is exciting, because thanks to COVID, we're basically decentralised now. Being able to be in the same room, with virtual white boards, diagrams, and the ability to move around, is a game changer for our teams.

More on topic, there's a reason Carmack left id Software and moved over to Facebook to work on VR. The metaverse future is coming, and gaming is the gateway drug that gets us there. Microsoft understand that, and so does Facebook. Now, is that a good future? We'll find out, I guess.
Yup, pretty wild. I've been remote work for nearly 2 years now! The funny thing is the metaverse is in it's infancy so much so... it's like we've gone back in PS2/PS3 Home days and it has to catch up to the current gen LOL in terms of fidelity and avatars. One of these days we'll get to the point where our avatars actually looks like us... but who wants that tho?!?! lol
 

ZehDon

Member
We wanted competition between Xbox and playstation, not a knife fight vs nuke fight.

At this point, the arrogant MS might come out of hibernation if this shit keeps going on for a while.
I think Microsoft has largely moved on from competing with Sony, to be honest. That fight is done and dusted. PlayStation beat Xbox. What we're seeing now isn't the precursor to arrogant Microsoft from the 90s, because these moves aren't all about Xbox. Ultimately, they're about Microsoft gearing up for a bigger fight - gaming is just the technological software and hardware foundation on which the future metaverses will be built. The allure of the best games in the world will establish their metaverse community, and Microsoft will spring board off it. Work, play, socialise, and game in Microsoft's metaverse. Xbox is, ultimately, just a small piece of that equation. Gaming gets you in the door, but everything else keeps you there. Sony, for all its success in gaming, isn't big enough to craft its own metaverse. It'll need Microsoft, Amazon, or Google's global infrastructure, and even then, Sony doesn't operate across as many vocations as Microsoft. You can game on PlayStation and watch movies, but Microsoft will offer the opportunity to work, play, socialise, and live in their world. If you're still viewing this as "Xbox vs PlayStation", then I suspect you're thinking too small, because Microsoft's stated goal is "the new internet", not "more consoles sold" or "more gamepass than ps+ subs".
 
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